Military raids and Thai Red Shirt disquiet

As the Thai military junta stages "" projects in Bangkok, complete with and army selfie stands, locals in this northeastern city are talking about a different kind of performance. They whisper about armed soldiers entering villages without...

"I saw a truck full of soldiers pass by my house and stop at another,"

Inside Look at Political Divisions in Thailand Bangkok and San Francisco, December 19, 2013 - The Asia Foundation in Thailand today released a report, Profile of the Protestors, which presents the findings of a short survey of pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok conducted on November 30, 2013. The Foundation conducted a rapid perception survey as mass...

How the military seized control in Thailand Travel insurance may be declared void Do you know more? Email us, or message us on Twitter @smh or @theage The pro-government Red Shirt centre has warned the country to "stand-by for retaliation" after Thailand's military launched a coup, three days after it initiated martial law. A nationwide curfew has been imposed from 10pm until...

Thailand is living through the political equivalent of a “Groundhog Day,” the Bill Murray movie in which the hero wakes up every morning having to relive the previous day over and over again. But in the Kingdom the “Groundhog Day” is either a Red Shirt or Yellow Shirt Day — depending on the political season. Needless to say, both are equally destructive and childish. This time...

Protesters in Thailand have become the latest to wear stylized Guy Fawkes masks made popular in the 2005 Hollywood film V for Vendetta. The mask has been used in protests around the world against alleged abuse of power. But in Thailand's color-coded politics, it is not just the anti-government demonstrators who have taken up the mask. Hundreds of protesters on Sunday marched...

The new leader of Thailand's pro-government "red shirt" movement said on Monday that his supporters would take to the streets in support of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra if the elite or the courts dared try to oust her. The red shirts have kept to the sidelines during the past 4-1/2 months of political unrest in Thailand, while anti-government protesters forced state...

Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered outside Thailand’s parliament on Wednesday as lawmakers began debating a political amnesty bill that it is speculated could help ousted and exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra return home a free man. Thai lawmakers on Wednesday began debating a highly contentious bill to give amnesty for political offenders, which threatens to...

Academic tells why he will not be reporting to Thailand's military junta

published:28 May 2014

Academic tells why he will not be r

Academic tells why he will not be reporting to Thailand's military junta

More than 100 of those detained by Thailand's ruling military junta in the wake of last week's coup have been released - many of them politicians and activists.
All have been advised that a condition ...

This clip went online on December 9th, 2014. It was part of a "ภาพยนตร์ไทยนิยม" (Thai pride movie) project commissioned by the military junta who seized power in May 2014 in Thailand. The movie was ai...

Thai King Endorses Junta Leader as Prime Minister

published:25 Aug 2014

Thai King Endorses Junta Leader as

Thai King Endorses Junta Leader as Prime Minister

Thai coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha attends a formal ceremony after he was endorsed as prime minister by King Bhumibol.
Full Story:
Thai military leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha was endorsed...

Academic tells why he will not be reporting to Thailand's military junta

More than 100 of those detained by Thailand's ruling military junta in the wake of last week's coup have been released - many of them politicians and activists.
All have been advised that a condition of their release bans them from voicing public criticism of the new regime.
But one of the people who has refused to report to Thailand's ruling army chiefs is Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai political analyst who is critical of the military coup.
He is an associate professor at Kyoto University in Japan and he is speaking with The World's Zoe Daniel.

duration:5:45

published:28 May 2014

updated:28 May 2014

views:11928

The Junta's Police State: Thailand on the Brink (Dispatch 5)

Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News It's been over a month since Thailand's army overthrew the country's elected government in ...

This clip went online on December 9th, 2014. It was part of a "ภาพยนตร์ไทยนิยม" (Thai pride movie) project commissioned by the military junta who seized power in May 2014 in Thailand. The movie was aimed at promoting the "12 Thai values" that the military junta instructed Thai school children to rote-learn and recite every day.
At 0:55, a scene depicts two children proudly painting a portrait of Adolf Hitler in front of a Nazi swastika. It is not known, at the time of writing, whether this was a mere oversight, or a form of protest from a non-compliant director/crew.
As soon it went online, the Hitler reference was picked up by the media and the clip went viral. A couple of hours later, it was removed from the official account who posted it.

duration:10:54

published:09 Dec 2014

updated:09 Dec 2014

views:101

Military Junta Music (2014 Thai coup d'état)

One of the nationalistic Siamese hymns the NPOMC played when the junta commandeered Thailand's TV channels. Displayed on the screen are military crests. This...

Thai King Endorses Junta Leader as Prime Minister

Thai coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha attends a formal ceremony after he was endorsed as prime minister by King Bhumibol.
Full Story:
Thai military leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha was endorsed as prime minister by Thailand's king on Monday, four days after he was elected by his own hand-picked parliament.
Approval from King Bhumibol Adulyadej is a formality. The interim government will be set up in the coming weeks, although power will remain firmly in the junta's hands.
Dressed in a crisp white military uniform, Prayuth got down on his knees and paid homage to a portrait of King Bhumibol at a ceremony in Bangkok.
King Bhumibol, 86, who is in a Bangkok hospital for what the palace said is a routine medical check-up, did not attend.
Prayuth was appointed prime minister on Thursday by 191 out of 197 members of the military-dominated national assembly. He was the sole candidate for the post.
Prayuth said the first mission is to set up a new cabinet by October.
"The cabinet needs to be set up as soon as possible. The process is to select the Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Minister of the Prime Minister Office which will be submitted for endorsement by October 2014," prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said after the ceremony.
He had led a May 22 coup, which the military said was necessary to avoid further bloodshed after months of turbulence pitting protesters, including the urban elite and southern Thais, against supporters of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Prayuth, who is due to retire as army chief in September, moved quickly to silence dissent and deployed troops to quell protests in the weeks after the coup.
On Monday, Prayuth said he wanted all parties to get involved in the reforms.
"For the reform council, I want everyone to get involved as much as possible in all the reform processes such as political groups, people's groups, economists, academics, civil servants, media, all representatives. I do not want anyone to be left behind the democratic process," he said.
The junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order, has tried to sell a positive story and has pointed to modest improvements in the economy and consumer confidence since the takeover.
Southeast Asia's second-largest economy avoided recession in the second quarter of the year but the tentative recovery is some way from matching the government spin.
Prayuth, 60, was a key figure in the 2006 coup that ousted Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin has lived in self-exile since 2008 to avoid serving a jail sentence for corruption charges he denies.
He has said he wants to free Thailand from a vicious cycle of political instability but critics say his rhetoric, including nostalgia-tinged references to an agrarian utopia and a "return to morality in Thailand", is outmoded and threaten to drag Thailand back by decades.
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duration:3:01

published:25 Aug 2014

updated:25 Aug 2014

views:1130

Thailand Junta Leader Voted Prime Minister

Thailand Junta Leader Voted Prime Minister Thai junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha was elected prime minister in parliament on Thursday in a move that ha...

Thai Junta Appoints Reform Council

Thailand's junta approved on Friday a 250-member council to draw up political reforms and approve a new constitution, main steps in a military plan for a general election late next year.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief who led a May 22 coup, picked the members of the council himself but declined to release their names, saying they needed royal approval first.
“The NCPO has chosen the 250 candidates and the names will be forwarded to His Majesty the King for endorsement,” Prayuth told reporters on Friday, referring to the junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order.
“There are academics, lawyers and [members of] social organizations so it should be viewed in a positive light,” Prayuth said.
The junta has said the country needs to overhaul its political system but it has offered few details of how.
Thailand has been roiled by political turmoil for much of the last decade as the largely rural-based supporters of populist former premier Thaksin Shinawatra vie for power with the Bangkok-based royalist establishment.
Prayuth's coup in May ousted the government of Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and their supporters fear the junta's reforms will be aimed at preventing the Shinawatra family and their allies from regaining power.
Telecommunications billionaire Thaksin became prime minister in 2001 and was toppled by the army in 2006. He has lived in self-imposed exile since 2008 to avoid a corruption sentence but remains hugely influential and popular, with his parties winning every election since 2001.
Members of Yingluck's Puea Thai Party and lawmakers from the pro-establishment Democrat Party have not been included in the reform council.
An analyst said any back-sliding on the military's plan for an election could backfire.
“If the junta does not return power as promised in a year's time then Puea Thai can claim that the junta is playing dirty and get people on their side to challenge the junta,” said Kan Yuenyong, an analyst at the Siam Intelligence Unit think tank.
“The Democrat Party, on the other hand, needs this military government to get rid of Thaksin-aligned parties because if they [the Democrat Party] go to the polls they will lose again.”
Prayuth has said reforms would focus on 11 areas including government administration, energy and justice. The council is also expected to change the electoral system.
Its proposals will need to be approved by a military-dominated National Legislative Assembly.
Prayuth has said elections will be held in late 2015 after a new constitution is written and the reforms are enacted.

Burton High Fives - Competitions Start Tomorrow

Press Release: TUNE IN: Watch the Second Annual Burton High Fives snowboarding competition LIVE on on September 12 and 13 WHAT: The second annual Burton 'High Fives' presented by MINI snowboarding competition, is now underway at Cardrona Alpine Resort in Wanaka, New Zealand. A live webcast of the slopestyle and halfpipe competitions will be on with the slopestyle coverage... more